Katelyn Cummins is the Dancing with the Stars 2026 champion.
The Rose of Tralee went on an emotional journey over the last three months and she couldn’t be more proud of herself.
“It’s been an unbelievable past three and a half months from day one our goal to get as far as the final and we got there. I think once you set a goal for yourself and you try and reach it,” she tells VIP Magazine moments after lifting the Glitterball trophy.
“Every week we’ve worked so, so hard, and we just try to relay that message as well to the public, through social media, through talking to people. We were true to ourselves, we never changed the whole thing and I think that stood to us at the very end.”
It was an emotional day for Katelyn, as her showdance focused on living with a disability, as she revealed that she had a genetic hearing disability. All four judges, including Brian Redmond, were moved to tears by her performance.
“I was definitely in shock,” she confesses. “When he was starting to talk, seeing his comments, you could see his eyes start to well up and I was like, not to curse, but I was like, ‘Holy s**t’.
“I didn’t expect it to have that much of an impact on people. We felt the emotion throughout the week, but we didn’t realise how much it would affect other people. It was a story that we were telling. It was our journey through this dance, and it was my journey through life as well. We just didn’t expect it to impact people like that.”
Katelyn was crowned Rose of Tralee in August and in just a handful of months she has become a fan-favourite across the nation. But growing up watching both contestants she “100 per cent” could have never imagined this being her life.
“I grew up being a teenager, afraid to say yes to things because I thought I wasn’t good enough to do them,” she tells us.
“I think I’m really glad for how my growth or my insecurities have progressed through the years because it’s allowed me to be where I am today. Sometimes you just have to let your insecurities be insecurities until you eventually get over them.”
So while she’s jetting out to America bright and early tomorrow for her Rose of Tralee duties for St Patrick’s Day, she will return to her electrician apprenticeship in the autumn. But after that? Well, she confesses that she would love to return to the ballroom…as an electrician!
“I want to work behind the scenes on Dancing with the Stars next year. It’s a phenomenal team that works here. Every single person, hair, makeup, costume, production, crew, every single person is like a family and it’s an amazing family to be a part of.
“I would like to do the tech behind the scenes. Oh wow, really? Yeah, I would absolutely love to do all that and I work Monday to Friday in my normal job, so I would be free for Saturday and Sundays for rehearsals on the show.”
Well, we’d love to see it! Congratulations Katelyn and Leonardo!
